Quick question guys I'm thinking of buying a Jap FZ-1 to add to my collection I already have the Pal and US version so I'm just wanting to know if the stepdown transformer I use for the US machine will be suitable for powering its Japanese counterpart?

Japan's voltage is lower than the US. You can save some money by getting a transformer (USA to Japan) that's as close to the watts your console is rated at. Don't go below. And use it with your EU to US transformer.

i didnt think 10v would be such a big difference with overheating, since many devices even use 100-240v for ease of use.. but im also not an expert on internal power adaptors so i wouldnt know..

still, as an amateur i wouldnt think 10v would be that big of a deal for the internal power adaptor personally. ive ran us and japanese hardware through the same stepdown converter for years and they all have worked just fine. the only overheating issue ive ever had was with my fat ps3, which is notorious for it, and that was the correct region for my country too.

Japanese power is acctualy 100-110v and the US is 110-120v. I'm not saying that if you plug in your unit it will pop and fizzel immediately. But over time it will damage electronics. I have personally watched a Famicom go down because of this. It's probably safer using a stepdown that outputs US than pluging it into a US wall outlet because any spikes will be handeled by the transformer but I still wouldn't rely on that myself, you'll wish you hadn't if you unit dies.

Well im in sweden, where i need a regular stepdown converter for NTSC systems, as we use 220-240v in our grid.. I dont see why that would be any different from any other converter? I mean it steps down the power to 110v 100w.. I run quite a few different systems through that, including my US 3DO, which according to you would want 110-120v, and my japanese AES, with the 120v~60hz 22w power adaptor, where in japan they would run 100-110..

Every grid ive ever know, again im not an expert, runs a top and low figure, im not down on the terminology, since irregular powersupply happens, and thus most electronics allow for some variation of power.

If you can educate me on why some game consoles would be so sensitive to established acceptance of irregularities in most other electronic manufacturing id be happy to learn. I dont wanna destroy my systems from misuse. But untill you teach me otherwise, i dont think a 10v difference is that much to worry about.

No. Not at 100 volts its not. Its pretty near insignificant. The electronics wont always run hotter, cause the slightly higher supply voltage will mean slightly less current draw to provide the same power output. ( in theory )

Slightly higher voltage is always preferable to any under voltage. ( especially where electric motors are concerned... )

mattyg wrote:Most equipment have a +/- tolerance of around 10% of their voltage - far more important is your amp draw

Yep, at least...

And with supply voltages, the number you see is "NOMINAL", and doesnt mean that is what youll be getting. There is a tollerance that will be specified by the supply authority. As an example, Australia has a nominal voltage of 230/400 +10% to -6%, so our 230 volt single phase outlet may have as much as 253 volts, and its not all that uncommon for it to hit 245 volts or more during low demand, under heavy load during peak demand the same circuit may be as low as 225 volts.

Every electrical installation has voltage drop, and youre not going to get the same voltage everywhere in the installation.

It will also vary quite abit depending on the time of day and the demand in your local area, the more current flowing the higher the voltage drop will be.

Having said all that, you dont need to concern yourself too much with this issue for this kind of appliance. The same cant be said for all appliances, but in this case, youre pretty safe.

What came after the Jaguar was the PS1 which for all it's greatness, ushered in corporate development and with it the bleached, repetitive, bland titles which for the most part we're still playing today. - David Wightman

No. Not at 100 volts its not. Its pretty near insignificant. The electronics wont always run hotter, cause the slightly higher supply voltage will mean slightly less current draw to provide the same power output. ( in theory )

Slightly higher voltage is always preferable to any under voltage. ( especially where electric motors are concerned... )

mattyg wrote:Most equipment have a +/- tolerance of around 10% of their voltage - far more important is your amp draw

Yep, at least...

And with supply voltages, the number you see is "NOMINAL", and doesnt mean that is what youll be getting. There is a tollerance that will be specified by the supply authority. As an example, Australia has a nominal voltage of 230/400 +10% to -6%, so our 230 volt single phase outlet may have as much as 253 volts, and its not all that uncommon for it to hit 245 volts or more during low demand, under heavy load during peak demand the same circuit may be as low as 225 volts.

Every electrical installation has voltage drop, and youre not going to get the same voltage everywhere in the installation.

It will also vary quite abit depending on the time of day and the demand in your local area, the more current flowing the higher the voltage drop will be.

Having said all that, you dont need to concern yourself too much with this issue for this kind of appliance. The same cant be said for all appliances, but in this case, youre pretty safe.

ok I am not going to sweat this all that much then. I'll let it ride for now. I want to get a US FZ-10 but I like the look of the FZ-1. It's totally classic.

What came after the Jaguar was the PS1 which for all it's greatness, ushered in corporate development and with it the bleached, repetitive, bland titles which for the most part we're still playing today. - David Wightman